Fix existing or buy a new bike?

I have a 26er 2010 Specialized Epic Carbon Expert. I have upgraded the wheels to Roval Control SL carbon .

I really love the bike and took it in for a shock service. I've just been told my forks are toast and my rear shock needs an overhaul.

For the new forks (SID RTL) and shock overhaul I'm looking at $8-900. I was planning on upgrading it to XX1 as well. The problem is now I'm looking at a $2k bill on an older bike.

One thing wanting me to keep my current bike is there are very few XC 26ers around these days. My Roval rims are less than a yr old. If I bought a new 29er it would cost a lot to get it similar to my current bike.

But am I a fool plowing $2k into an old bike? Is it just going to continue to be a money pit?

Nothing wrong at all with 26" wheels, unless you just want to jump on the 29er train to see how it works for you. I guess you could look at bikes in the $2k range, but it's not going to get you nearly as nice nor as light a bike as you currently have. On the plus side, since your current bike isn't that old you could probably fetch a good price for it (eventually) on craigslist/classifieds.

What fork do you have on there now, and is the SID RTL a really good upgrade over the existing fork? And why the switch to XX1? For XC races is it enough range?

I would rather not jump on the 29er bandwagon. I ride a small, so 26" are a good size for me.

My current forks are SID race, so pretty similar forks, just the new version. My forks are done, so I don't have much of an option here.

My plan was to get a $100 front and rear shock service, plus an upgrade to XX1. My front shifter broke so I've been running 1x9 for a while and love not having a FD, but feel I need a gear at both ends, hence the XX1 upgrade. So I was planning on around a $1100 upgrade anyway.

The extra $8-900 just got me thinking it be too much to plow into an older bike...

Easy formula to figure out if it makes sense to spend the money on the current bike.

What can get you for the bike as it sits?
What is the bike worth to you fixed.

So, if you could get $500 for the bike as it sits and you are looking at spending $2000 to get it where you want it then the question would be what would you get for $2500?

Basically would you get something you would rather have if you sold the bike plus added the money you plan on fixing it with or would you rather have your current bike fixed?

BTW, your 2010 bike is not that old.

Yeah that makes sense. Thanks. I think I'll keep the old bike. A 2013 Spec Epic Expert is $6k (although I could get it for less through a team deal) and it wouldn't have the wheels or drive chain I'd want / which is on my current bike.

I would consider the following-
Using PinkBike, Youtube and the RS site rebuild the fork and shock yourself. Pretty small parts and fluid costs.
Put hte stock wheels back on and sell your bike for 2k
Sell the Rovals for 1k
With your extra 2k upgrade to 29.

Once you complete the rebuild you can ride it for the season if you like.

But am I a fool plowing $2k into an old bike? Is it just going to continue to be a money pit?

You said you loved the bike. That pretty much sums it up for me. Putting money into upgrading major components on a bike you already love, plan to keep and continue to ride for a while makes perfect sense to me.

If you have the $2k, go for it and don't look back. I know guys who have owned the same 26" bike for 10-12 years now and just keep upgrading it, keep riding it and in some cases, keep winning races on it over guys with the latest, greatest 29ers.

To put it into perspective, if you purchased a new Epic Expert Carbon 29, it would set you back three times as much as what you're going to spend in upgrades and it wouldn't even have the same Rovals as your current bike.

Just out of curiousity, what did you do to toast the forks so quickly? Just never change the fluids, or was it crash damage?
Oh, and I vote keep it. You can always transfer the new parts to a new frame.

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I ordered some new RS SID RCT3 forks yesterday. I'm going from straight to tapered steerer and QR to 15mm, so I guess I might seem some more stiffness at the front end? We'll see. They are also a little lighter.

I went upgrade as I love the bike and I can't see me getting that much for a 2010 bike which has 3 hard years of riding on it. If I was buying a used bike I'd expect at least 30% off for an unused current model for the lack of warranty, and at least 50% if it had a years worth of riding. On top of that if I couldn't sell locally, ebay and paypal would take there 2-30% pimping charge off that, which would leave even less. Main reason though is I just enjoy that bike.

Also I can always take the xx1 and new fork onto a new bike if I upgrade anyway.

Originally Posted by cerebroside

Just out of curiousity, what did you do to toast the forks so quickly? Just never change the fluids, or was it crash damage?

A bit of both. I never changed the fluids or got it service, so the upper tubes had all the coating rubbed off and had small lines/cracks all over it.

Also one of the lower stanchions has a big gouge out when I hit a rock a few months ago. It's now really thin and you can see the dent in the inside (the bike tech showed me it). I brought it in as there was a loud clunking sound coming from it for a while.